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FG stresses need for SWETF •Want NLC, TUC’s intervention

By on April 15, 2011

THE recent discovery of fraudulent acts perpetrated by some staff of the civil service pension department in the office of the Head of Service of the Federation has been condemned by pensioners who described the act as evil done to all. They have also called on all relevant government agencies, most especially; the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) not to sweep the case under carpet, adding that culprits must be brought to book to serve as an example for others who are fond of committing crime at the expense of innocent Nigerians.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, Elder Adewale Tomori, a pensioner, said that they had made Nigerians to believe that retirement in this country was a curse, stresing that only a small percentage of retirees could boldly claim to enjoy retirement.

He said, “meanwhile, just a few individuals have allowed themselves to be used of the devil to savor what belongs to others who have used better part of their lives to work meritoriously so as to ensure economic stability of Nigeria.

“While we complain that we have no money to send our children to schools, and some pensioners who have no other alternative have been subjected to street begging to keep body and soul together as if they had never worked in their lives, some individuals have enriched themselves with what belongs to us all.

“All we want now is to ensure that these people are made to face the music, retrieve our money from them, and ensure that the government reorganises the industry”.

Also speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, Ex Captain Mohammed Adamu blamed the Federal Government for the lapses, saying that government could not claim ignorant of what had been happening in the industry.

According to him, “if our government is concerned about our plight, what has it done to address all other anomalies that have been attributed to this industry. What was the government doing while we were forced to carry placards to protest non-payment of our entitlements? Nothing.

“I have always known that the worst, official and fraudulent institution ever established in Nigeria is the pension commission, and its worst victims are members of the military.

“How can one imagine a retired corporal who had served this country for almost two decades be paid only N4,000 as monthly pension few years back, while staff of the military pension department go home with hundreds of thousands of naira as monthly salaries. I have once said that the Nigerian government must intervene.”

However, Elder Tomori enjoined the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to swing into action and save Nigerian pensioners.

Source : Tribune